Ask HN: Did you deliberatively develop any new hobby in recent years?
Could you please share how you went about developing it? How much time, effort it took, why did you prefer that hobby over some other?
Thanks.
I suppose the biggest thing that got me interested was I got a book on making costumes from a Humble Bundle. Keeping me interested, though, was a desire to do something that was not on a screen during the pandemic.
I probably read through 15 books from the library in my spare time, honestly, over the course of several months. I asked me wife some questions, and read through the manual for her sewing machine -- and then watched enough YouTube videos and did things tediously slowly until I understood what I was supposed to do. I found books aimed at kids especially good for beginners, and re-read things as I understood better.
I borrowed some patterns from my aunt, and made pyjamas for my four year old. (I figured something small would waste less fabric). It took me five weeks, on and off, to get them made, and involved a lot of learning, but they turned out really nicely and my kid wore them every night for quite a while. Since then I made some Hallowe'en costumes. (Making pyjamas for everyone for Christmas would've been nice, but I haven't been able to make the time.)
Why this instead of something else?
- I didn't know how to do it
- I could do it at home
- We had the basic toolsI started sewing last year while planning a bike packing trip where I wanted to finally switch from tent to hammock. Finding proper underquilts for hammocks in Europe is... a mess.
In the end, I decided to borrow my sister's sewing machine and give it a try.
I ended up sewing not just the underquilt but also ultra light bike bags, an ultra light hammock, a tarp and a bunch of smaller bags for storage.
I never thought the technical side of sewing would be so much fun - I spent hours researching fabrics and composites for a project in order to fulfill 'your' specific needs.
My sister never got her sewing machine back.
I was lucky enough to have my experienced mother to teach me, walking through how to use a sewing machine and some basic hand-stitching. Doing one seam is like in 3d programming where you get one triangle to render on the screen, and everything else follows from there.
I don't have the patience to watch instructional videos, and so I do a lot by trial and error. But I also learned that there's no objective standard of "doing it right" -- if it looks acceptable and holds together structurally, then it's not wrong. Sewing doesn't have technical debt like programming - you finish a piece and you're done, you're not worried about its architectural fit with a mess of other components.
A friend had moved to Denver and was starting to climb more impressive and intense routes just as my whole division at a big company was let go. It looked fun and I thought it would be a good way to spend my time. After a primer from my friend, I joined clubs and sought out partners who I gelled with. I ultimately found that the passionate rationality of alpine climbing's risk assessment and fitness requirements were a great healthy replacement for what I did at work.
I started trail running as part of my training and decided I liked it for its own sake. I took up ski mountaineering a couple years later because it meant I could have more fun moving faster on larger terrain. I took up mountain biking two years ago because a buddy badgered me about how fun it was and described it as "skiing in the summer." And, recently, with a large base of fitness, I joined a group of friends who are all martial arts nerds who get together for sparring and style comparison chats. I wrestled in high school, so I jumped in and decided it was as fun now as it was then.
This whole journey kicked off in 2016. I spend between 5 and 15 hours per week in one of the above disciplines, plus a few hours a week in the gym lifting. It takes a lot of effort, but it rarely feels like it because I'm enjoying myself. I prefer all of these hobbies because, like many of us, my job keeps me glued to a screen/hunched over a work table and I wanted something that put me back in my body in an enjoyable way.
1. Started playing rugby again after 12 years. Good male relationships. Physical exercise. A sense of time passing and a season in the year. 2. Violin. I wanted something I could spend ten years learning. And a creative hobby but that worked with analytical approach.
Time? Both take a lot of time and effort - but maybe less than you would expect.
Rugby: Email ten teams in the local area, attend the training of the one who was friendliest in their response. Training twice a week and a game on Saturday. I now go to the gym as well. All the above is optional.
Violin: Cheap violin is £100. Online lessons are cheap and convenient. After a year I bought a more expensive violin. I practice on my lunch break - little but often.
Do it. It's a made a lot of difference to my happiness.
I agree with the benefits of team sports.
About violin, it's been the instrument I was very much moved by even though in India I have probably heard it less. I think only Sitar[1] moved me more.
May I ask if you have a what they call a 'musical ear'? For ex. are you able you identify notes, frequencies. In my physics- Harmonics And Overtones classes, some of my friends used to identify- just by listening- that two from a given set of tuning forks sounded same/similar. I was told it is very important to have that kind of ear to learn (Indian classical) music. Is that true?
Plus, you will also notice that when two frequencies are at the same pitch (or at perfect intervals) something clicks between the tones. If two tones are similar but not at perfect intervals you hear it through the physical resonance, the distortion fades away when you get them right. Over time you'll start noticing these.
To pursue this,get a tibetan bowl for example, it only produces one note but with many beautiful overtones. You'll start to understand the vibrations.
I am not Indian and don't have much experience with Indian classical music, but Indian music relies heavily on timbre, sympathetic resonances etc. The note is not only made off of its frequency, the timbre plays a lot of role.
If you can get your hands on one, I'd suggest start experimenting with a tanpura. Learn a couple of tunings, play drone notes along your favorite tunes. If you can only tune one string to an electric tuner and try to tune the other strings with ear. This will develop your 'musical ear' immensely.
Music is magical, you can surely learn it.
In late 2017 and early 2018, I started to learn sleight-of-hand card magic and am now able to perform a number of illusions and flourishes. I'm not particularly great at it, but its enough to entertain most people a little.
Last summer, I started to learn guitar. Again, I'm not great at it, but I can play a few things and can pick up new riffs quickly enough (as long as they're not too hard to begin with) and, most importantly, I can play for fun and relaxation.
Two months ago, I started going to the gym almost daily.
In all cases, I set myself about an hour each day to do it. I kept a little calendar where I'd tick off each day as I practice. This was done to make it part of my day to day routine and to get over the initial "hump" where learning is slow. After one to two months, I wouldn't bother with a calendar and just do it as I feel like it (its hobbies after all), but I did make sure it was always easy to do: I always have a deck of cards within arms reach, I have the guitar on a stand beside my desk, I go to a gym that's 5 minutes walk away. Convenience is key, for me.
For guitar and cards, I also signed up to online courses (video lessons). Both have plenty of youtube tutorials, but I find that to start off, something much more structured is better for me and they're designed for beginners in mind (so will start with the fundamentals). Nowadays, I just go by youtube tutorials when I feel like trying to add to what I know.
For me, I chose those things because they are completely unrelated to my work (programming), interesting to me and in the case of gym, would benefit my health.
I watched a ton of youtube videos from gardening youtubers, I bought a bunch of nursery plants and soil, and I got to work. Later on, I moved to starting plants from seed. Gardening doesn't have to be an expensive hobby, and you can often start with whatever you have. It's really nice to put work into something and see it bear fruit (sometimes literally).
I've also been busy propagating plants and have received one or two and shared good number.
Also I guess all avacadoes take a few years to mature, but from what I read at around 5 years there should be possible to get fruit of some kind and that also means they should flower too?
Now I get to spent the next two months thinking about what to do differently (No more uncovered brassicas - they all get eaten in my climate. Maybe my raspberries have a virus - I should get them tested. Sweet potatoes only go in pots/bags or raised beds from now on, since digging them out in clay soil is a huge pain, and the quality of the ones I grew in pots is better). Then I get to try again next year. It's process improvement, but in slow motion!
About 2 years ago I decided to try climbing with the explicit goal of tackling my fear of heights. I started with indoor bouldering because it was readily available. Initially, I was too scared to even climb up the moderately hight stuff or "top out". Anything above 3m was a huge mental struggle. Typically bouldering will max out around 5m, where you can still safely fall onto a mat since your feet are about 3-3,5m above ground. Now I feel quite confident topping out and going to the highest points in the gym. Height is still a factor but not nearly as much as it used to be. Two month ago, I even started top roping with friends and I'm climbing 12m high routes relatively calmly now. A feat that seemed impossible two years ago. I can't wait to try higher ones (18m) and eventually climb on actual rock.
Climbing has helped me overcome my fear of height and more importantly I absolutely love it and think about it constantly. It's the only solo-able sport that has kept me motivated, too. Mostly because you always have micro challenges to tackle (finish this new route, get further on that old route) and also bigger goals (get to grade X). I absolutely love it, during lockout I have even built my own home wall and I'm currently working on building my own holds, too.
Highly recommended for anyone looking for a sport to try. I think bouldering works really well for analytical minds and puzzle solvers like myself because it's essentially puzzle solving with your body. The community is also very friendly and nice and open, another big plus. And yes, your general body shape doesn't matter, don't be afraid, just try it some day.
Time: You can go to a climbing gym once a week for 1.5-2h. I go 2-3 times per week now and occasionally climb on my home wall and do some finger boarding and other exercises. I'd say 6-8h/week with travel time.
I've been wanting to try climbing for a long time, thinking of giving it a shot.
My advice: just go to a gym and do it. Everyone will be super friendly and you can climb by yourself if you want. There's some jargon and it might be a bit tricky to figure out how you're supposed to climb routes but simply tell them at the entrance that you never climbed and would like a short introduction. Make sure the rental shoes fit, not too tight, comfortable but snug is what you should aim for. If in doubt, they'll always let you exchange them. Just start with the easiest routes and work your way up. It's very addictive and there's always something to try and eventually succeed at. Do it. First thing next year :)
I’ve learned more about myself from climbing then almost anything else I’ve done.
I came to realise that it’s ok and normal to be scared, and most other climbers feel the same fear, you just learn to handle it and slowly increase the exposure.
Although I’m still a rank amateur, I’ve learned to lead sport climb and even start trad climbing which is amazing. Alongside that I’ve done mountain scrambles I never thought I’d be able for.
For a lot of people, climbing is about being strong and completing grades, but there are so many more dimensions to it that I’d recommend it to anyone.
I try not to install too much software on them as I like a simple working environment, typically with nothing but a text editor like Sublimetext running, and a browser with the LiveReload extension for doing web development. No npm or NodeJS crap. Just oldskool development.
The 'ROI' if you will of learning Linux is that I have peace of mind that I'm not being spied upon or potentially getting ambushed by various malware, and also: knowing that I am standing on the shoulders of giants. I am super thankful for how far Linux has come along. I remember in the early days having to write scripts just to get my Wifi adapter working, and hours upon hours trying to debug simple shit like printer compatibility errors, etc
Frankly I didn't have the time to focus on Linux in my twenties, and lately in my thirties I have more free time, so I can go down rabbit-holes all day and it doesn't bother me as much.
My Linux installs are very much 'set and forget', as in, you configure them to your liking, and then never have to do that again for a very long time.
2) woodworking. Bought table saw, then router, specialized tools. Watched 1-2 hours/day to learn stuff on Youtube (Steve Ramsey, etc). Find a project, it can suck as much time as a fun programming task. But projects are key. I started with step stools and moved into picture frames and patio furniture. Still not good at detail work but better at hiding mistakes. Why this: scratches same building itch as programming but diff domain, requires math and spatial reasoning, helps a lot with home ownership.
Since then, started acquiring tools to pursue woodworking at home and am really enjoying it. I also find myself going down YouTube woodworking rabbit holes often.
I find it fascinating how much my perspective has changed. In the past I felt that hand tools were past their time since they are slower and require skill while machines require thinking first and skill second. Now I am well into my engineering career and I am happy to do something that does not scale and does not require anything electric.
If you are interested in woodworking but don't have much space you can try hand tools. They still need an area that you can make quite messy, but that area can be only a few square meters.
Here are a few photos of my "shop" [1], it is situated at the step between my office and the rest of the house.
I am planning to take up photography next.
I searched online and watched a bunch of YouTube videos to get more educated.
I completed my state’s Hunter Education course including an in person training day.
Bought hunting license.
I reached out via Reddit and other online forums to local hunters and asked for advice. I found 3 separate mentors from Reddit, YouTube, and RokSlide and ended up meeting 2 of them and learning a lot from all 3.
It took a lot of effort but it was all in incremental , repeatable steps and I have started helping others by passing on the knowledge.
It took the better part of a year before I harvested small game. I still haven’t harvested any big game.
I like this hobby because it gets me outside, gives me fresh and ethically harvested meat, keeps me fit, and allows me to practice my firearm manipulation skills.
I started at 3 days per week. For the first few months I had to force myself to exercise. When you are first starting out, lifting weights in a gym can be uncomfortable due to not knowing what you’re doing or feeling like the weakest one there. Once I started seeing results (first in strength, then in the way my body actually looked) I was hooked. Now I actually like exercising a lot and go out of my way to go to a local gym a couple times even on vacation.
It’s a great hobby because it has a lot of side effects beyond just the enjoyment you begin to experience as you grow accustomed to exercising. You become healthier, better looking, and at less risk of injury in daily tasks. The only cost is a gym membership (and a diet high in protein if you want to optimize muscle growth, which can get pricey). It only takes about 1hr/day so it’s not very hard to fit into a daily routine.
Wouldn't you have to lift at a pretty high level to be even a bit competitive? My mental picture is that you probably won't reach anywhere near competitive levels until you are at least a few years in. I personally am still fairly weak by powerlifting standards.
But this could just be in my head... I actually have no idea if there are options for beginners, despite somewhat following the sport.
But if you're competing as a male and can do a 1 rep max of either >300lb squat, >250lb bench, or >450lb deadlift, you'll likely be able to find an amateur competition to participate in!
As a final note, if you've never worked towards a 1 rep max, you likely have no idea what your upper limit is. I certainly didn't – my deadlift max wound up being nearly twice the weight I was expecting when I started.
(FWIW, I've ben lifting somewhat seriously for a year and a half, far less seriously for a few years before that, and I bench ~155lbs 1RM, at least according to a 1RM calculator.)
I'm still learning. I've got a handful of excellent pictures, a bunch of decent ones, and a whole pile of junk. My "hit rate" is steadily increasing as I get better at judging aperture & shutter speed. And I'm getting better at editing.
I typically go birding for 3-4 hours per week, taking 500-1000 shots in 100-200 bursts per outing, and spend 2-3x that to edit all the images. I'm holding off on re-editing some of the older images I know I could do better now for when I purchase a colorimeter and calibrate my monitors.
So cash wise I'm well below top-of-the-line. But in overall gear capabilities I'm honestly really close, the added speed of the big prime lenses also comes at a cost of reduced compositional versatility (and size/weight).
The other thing is, hire an instructor. Anything worthwhile means you are going to be embarassingly bad at it for several years, so don't substitute buying expensive gear for spending time, it's symbolic, and it doesn't make you into the thing you are trying to represent.
You can do something just on weekends for fun, but that's not enough to improve. While it's unlikely anyone will pay me much for my personal skills, the difference is they couldn't pay to develop those skills with all the money in the world without putting in the time. Sure, someone of independent means can afford more time, but I make time, so it often nets out. There's no royal road, and so when I meet very successful people from other domains, I can respect what they've accomplished without being intimidated at all, because I know what it takes to be good too.
An olympic medalist once observed to me that he felt he had more in common with people who had worked to achieve at an excellence and elite level than people who did his chosen sport. Most successful people also have intense personal pursuits because the side effect of discipline it imposes on their time is a significant factor in their success.
How much time.
So far, I’m about two years in on BJJ and it’s the best decision I’ve made from a mental and physical health POV. I found a local gym, met the teacher and sat in for a few classes. Now, I train about 3-4 times a week for 90-120 minutes.
Effort.
Mentally, it’s like physical chess and it helps me relax. It’s hard to worry about the days problems when you have to be focused on your opponent/partner. Other than, the major learning curve is all mental. Relaxation and breathing are important to learn when your training partner is sitting on your chest lol.
Why this hobby?.
I hate exercise. I’ve tried swimming, running, biking, weightlifting, ball sports and I pretty much hate them all. With BJJ, there’s a self-defense utility that I like and a mental/physical complexity that makes it challenging like a great puzzle.
With that said, drilling is how to get better. Even though it may not seem like it at lower levels while rolling, the technical details matter. At higher levels, missing those details is the difference between the move working or not.
The physical benefits are obvious. The non-obvious mental and emotional benefits are where JJ really shines. Putting oneself in stressful situations over and over leads to more calmness when under stress in general. Then there is the ego check where where one is forced to be a beginner again over and over. There's also no way to lie to yourself when a 100# girl chokes you out.
2.) Got a velomobile (https://www.velomobileworld.com/product/milan-gt/ ). This was actually not supposed to be a hobby but a way to get to work while not producing too much C02. 50km each way were to far for a normal bicycle, an ebike is still to slow. With the velomobile I could average 40km/h and stay fit at the same time -- until Covid/Home Office came along. This year I took some time off and cycled 11000km in 3 month. From Northern Germany to the Black Sea, to the Atlantic Coast and back to Germany again. This took some time and effort ;) But with cycling you can spend as much time/effort as you please. You can tour alone or in groups... many options.
It's relatively easy to get started. Buy some skates and a helmet and find some smooth tarmac (asphalt) to practise. For me, it's something always wished I could do so I thought why not learn.
I practised for a half hour to an hour after work when the weather was nice and found it a good way to de-stress, usually while listening to music. It's a good form of exercise too since it doesn't strain your joints too much. Obviously, you may (and probably will) injure yourself when you fall though you should learn how to fall to minimise injury.
If you're new, the fear of falling takes some time to get over but after a few hours you'll get the confidence to overcome this. At first you'll probably even dread going to practise but getting over that fear is intensely satisfying. Above all, you'll probably have to be okay with making yourself feel like a fool (in public). For me, this was the biggest thing I had to get over. Getting over that is liberating in itself. You realise the world doesn't end if someone saw you fall. You just get up again.
After about 10 hours I was at an okay standard and I feel after about 20-30 hours most people would be very competent. There's a high skill ceiling too so there's always more to learn and areas to develop.
The thrill of the speed and the sensation of going really fast never gets old.
This started pre-covid and I have always enjoyed card games and board games. Playing games has always felt a bit like trying to solve a puzzle. Designing a game is simply making a puzzle for other people to solve. The great thing with analog card and board games is just the fun you get sitting around a table and visiting with friends over a shared activity.
The time varies per project but you don't have to be an expert or need lots of equipment. Your first version of a game can just be hand-written on note cards and paper. I've designed some games that have I probably 100 hours on design (not done yet) and others that are done at 10 hours. I tend to make cards using regular paper and cut to size and sleeve in TCG sleeves. Boards and token can be printed and stuck to cardboard/foam/chipboard. The more your prototype game facilitates the game play, the better and more quickly it will improve.
The best thing about analog card and board games is the immediacy. If you have a few like minded friends, you can test a game the same day you start it. It is great to see how the game evolves and you fix issues, re-design cards and as your play testers offer opinions about how the game works. Even if you never license a game to a publisher, you will always still have a game that you and your friends enjoy playing.
https://www.polygon.com/guides/22653114/gunpla-gundam-models...
Before you know it I've acquired 15+ of the things, am writing a price comparison site and streaming on YouTube and CrunchyRoll.
And I wouldn't consider myself a Weeb, or anime fan. I just love the models. It's everything I've loved about model kits in the past, but none of the awkward paining or glue.
And it's WAY cheaper than LEGO.
Gunpla are pretty much worthless once you have built them in the same way a movie ticket is worthless once you've watched a film. The journey is where the value is, and much more so than with LEGO sets where you might discover one or two cool building tricks.
Spacewise they are economical. They shrink volume dramatically once built and you don't have to worry about keeping the box.
But if you want deep value, get some Gamestop or some crypto. They are much more economical space wise.
I've found the best way to get stuck into a new hobby is to not make excuses to yourself like "oh but I can't do that because I don't have X or Y piece of equipment". Just start with whatever means you have available and if it sticks then invest some money in the hobby. For example, I had a small midi keyboard so I just started learning on that, then bought myself the cheapest full size electric piano I could find once I'd managed a couple of months of consistent practice.
Also I think it's hard to pick up a hobby just for the sake of it, there has to be some kind of motivation - like the example of me wanting to improve my songwriting by learning the piano. I'm now seeing tangible results and it's immensely satisfying, which motivates me to carry on spending 20-30 mins a day practicing the piano.
Partly due to the pandemic lockdown and social isolation, I was able to naturally develop a healthy daily habit, to regularly play the piano for an hour or two every morning. That time is so precious and pleasurable, to sit quietly and wander around on the keyboard, exploring musical ideas.
In the evenings, I often read books on music theory. I have a dozen or so favorite books that are quite dense with knowledge, so I've been reading bits and pieces of them, re-reading certain sections for deeper understanding.
For me, having a hobby is about the enjoyment and satisfaction I get from the act of play and creative expression, and sharing the joy with friends and loved ones.
In particular, music helps me enter a sense of "flow", personally and socially. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
So far the it has been a net positive in my life. It has broadened my understanding of art, philosophy and history and I have also met a lot of interesting people and have grown my network significantly.
I started reaching out to religious organizations in my local community and everyone welcomed me as an outsider and answered all my questions politely. It would have been even better without the COVID restrictions as the in person activities are limited but I can't complain..
I don't think I will completely "settle" on a specific religion but I can confidently say that my views on spirituality and religion has massively shifted as a result of this journey.
I'm not an endurance athlete genetically, so racing in cycling isn't going to be a podium winning experience. MTB provides a balance between skills you can develop and having to be in good physical shape. It's allowing me to travel across the country and [hopefully soon] Europe to exotic destinations. I'm in some of the best shape of my life too and I highly recommend everyone try it
My (at the time 4 year old) daughter likes to do puzzles and she always wanted me to do them together. I got bored of doing the same easy puzzle over and over. I discovered wooden puzzles and they are amazing. Completely different experience than cardboard puzzles. Many have intricate piece shapes that you can put together based mostly off shape.
Coolest Puzzle Piece Shape (and my favorite): Artifact Puzzles: https://www.artifactpuzzles.com
Best Quality: Liberty puzzles: https://www.libertypuzzles.com
Huge selection: Wentworth: https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/us/
Instead of helping her do her simple kids puzzles, she helps me do my whimsical [0] adult puzzles. It's a win-win. We both get what we want, and because I enjoy it more she enjoys it more.
[0] Wooden puzzles often have special pieces shaped like animals or other objects. These pieces are called whimsical pieces. It's one of the draws of wooden puzzles.
The other huge draw is the puzzle designer can make cuts along edges so the individual pieces do not look like they fit together when they do.
Here's some shots from a recent trip to a salt mine in Transylvania that I'm quite pleased with:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIVk1EAzv2/
My camera is totally entry level also. I don't like the idea buying the most professional-grade equipment to compensate for a lack of fundamental skill.
Started out 3 years ago with light running mostly on treadmill during the winter. Ran two half marathons and then one year later ran a full marathon. After that I spent three months preparing for half ironman distance triathlon. That was much fun, race as well.
Last year was most time intensive, I've spent about 6 hours running/swimming/biking a week, which is not that big of a jump as I use to go to gym for about 3-4 times a week.
Effort is interesting since I had to reduce the intensity to build up the endurance, so workouts we're not difficult at all.
I prefer it over other stuff since it makes me active and I enjoy the endurance workouts.
I'm from Central Europe, so my mother's tongue isn't English, but learning English was kind of natural for me - all the games, TV shows, movies and the majority of pop music is already in English.
Approximately 3 years ago I signed up for Duolingo and spent +- 20 minutes every single day learning Spanish. Then met Mexican GF and later decided to move to Mexico for some time, which only improved my level of Spanish.
Anyway, it's amazing to see how only 20 minutes per day can compound into speaking a foreign language.
And the fact that you can do it completely for free w/o needing to visit some institution makes it even better IMO.
Back in April I saw that they offered Yiddish as a beta. It sounded like fun, so I tried it.
Duolingo is excellent for establishing a habit because it let's you set a daily goal and it gives you reminders and little bits of encouragement along the way. I am currently on day 207 of continuous study of around a half hour a day. That sounds pretty hobby like! I'm having so much fun that some days I have to cut down my time. Otherwise, the rest of my life might suffer..
To further show that it's become a hobby, I've branched out beyond duolingo. I bought a book that has dual English and Yiddish pages. I listen to podcasts in Yiddish (understanding almost nothing but it's slowly improving). I even wrote a poem in Yiddish!
It helps that this particular hobby is one that can be done from my laptop when I'm at home or even (as I did a couple hours ago) from my phone while sitting in a waiting room. If I needed a lot of equipment or a special place to do it (like a dojo), it would be harder to maintain, though with the right amount of passion it would still be possible.
Question: Does Yiddish have different dialects? I'm asking because Spanish varies greatly depending where you currently are, but I consider Yiddish being somehow different language.
“The primary differences between the contemporary dialects are in the quality of stressed vowels, though there are also differences in morphology, lexicon, and grammar.
Northern dialects are more conservative in vowel quality, while southern dialects have preserved vowel quantity distinctions.”
My main techniques for learning have been internet resources, https://www.inaturalist.org, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ , and sci-hub being indispensable. I also have built up a decent library of related books, though there are very few relating to galls mostly they are botany related.
This hobby has led me to become a much better photographer (this is one of my recent favorites https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96982552) and gets me outside wandering around in nature at every opportunity that I have. My own yard, the neighborhood park, county/state/national parks, all of them offer nearly limitless exploration opportunity.
I have been at it for about 18 months and I feel like I am competent but am acutely aware of just how much more there is to learn, which is for me one of the main appeals.
I’m not a developer, and have no plans to become one.
I’m a product manager, so my initial reason for starting was so I could better communicate with developers regarding effort and ideas.
But I also wanted a hobby to challenge my brain and allow me to create.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time learning/doing. Starting with about 3 hours per night for 3 weeks to start - now it’s dependent on the projects I build.
I am a product owner with little technical background and I am considering doing the same as you, Django to be specific.
After going through his beginners series, I went through his Django series.
Learning to work with Django was very helpful to get a high level understanding of tech architecture and how the system works. I’d recommend this, so I think your plan makes sense.
Here’s his YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-osiE80TeTt2d9bfVyTiXJA-...
Obviously, I read and used other sources here and there, but he is the best.
I tried digital photography quite a while back but it never stuck - I think the limitations of film (limited shots, fixed ISO for the whole roll, no way to review until you develop it) make it so much more compelling for me - I've stuck with it for longer than most other hobbies I've tried. I end up shooting around 5-10 rolls a month, which admittedly gets pricey. I desperately needed a hobby outside of tech and this has been such a nice way to get away from a screen and appreciate my environment.
Resin casting is a bit more expensive to get into because you have to buy supplies constantly, including molds (or mold-making material) and PPE, but it's still cheaper than a lot of other hobbies. It's also easy to make stuff that looks beautiful, even early on the learning curve. After I started posting pictures, friends and family started asking if I could make earrings and such out of the materials I was using. Just finished my fifth and sixth such gifts. Bringing joy to family and friends with something I made myself feels really great. I've also started making phone cases, and I could make some actual money from that on Etsy or similar. And I'm just getting started. There's a near infinite number of techniques I still have yet to learn, so it's likely to keep me amused for quite a while.
In both cases, YouTube videos have been absolutely invaluable. Particularly with the resin casting, I'll see some technique I haven't tried yet, watch several more videos to get different perspectives or explanations, then try it myself. Often I have to go a second round to fix mistakes and improve points of technique that I'd totally missed until I tried it. I try to do at least one pour most days, and to try something new each time unless I'm working on a commission. I literally have a stack of about forty test coasters from working out various techniques, and some of the "failures" showed new effects that I went on to refine. So basically it's practice, practice, practice ... but it's usually practice guided by watching people who have already done stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertTolone MOre about the science/art of the mold itself
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFluffinAmazin he makes mostly dice.. but its approachable.
https://www.youtube.com/c/EvanAndKatelyn not the best at it, but entertainable.. they use resin to cast but more to cover and as an art media..
https://youtu.be/E4yCzQ-VvhE https://youtu.be/K4VrQLZQLYY
But here's the one you absolutely should watch first: safety.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr1E9v_9fww
It's not worth freaking out over, but I'm a safety-first kind of guy. The Alumilite videos are generally very good (especially this guy) and they also make one of my favorite black/white opaque dyes. Stone Coat also has some really good ones, even though they're usually for much bigger pieces - tables and countertops - than anything I'm ever likely to do.
The main issue now with videos is that I might record a lot of boring raw footage. Some of this boring raw footage, actually, has a lot of nostalgic value when viewed a few years later. But I also edit videos and create shorter videos that are more fun to watch. I do most of video editing on iPad because it is simple.
The storage seems cheap enough, I use Apple Cloud and local NAS backup.
One thing I am bad at is organization of videos. But I am really hoping that in next few years ML/AI will handle this part. It is already pretty good but not as good as it is for photos.
As for organization, here's my structure. I never let anything else manage it, and that gives me piece of mind.
I keep photos\videos source files sorted by the yyyy\yyyymmdd, and to never edit the original file, always save to a new name first before making modifications.
You need to manage this structure yourself. Here's a handy python script to make folders, tweak for your own use
import datetime,os
# this program has a very limited purpose
#
# it creates a folder of the form d:\photos\source\yyyy\yyyymmdd
# then it opens the folder in Windows Explorer, to aid the transfer of photos
#
# May 16, 2007 - Mike Warot
# December 3, 2007 - Moved to D:\photos\source...
#
thisdate = datetime.date.today() # get the current system date and make the appropriate folder name
foldername = "c:\photos\source\%04d\%04d%02d%02d" % (thisdate.year,thisdate.year,thisdate.month,thisdate.day)
try: os.makedirs(foldername) # recursively creates the folder all the way down (so it works when there is a new year)
except WindowsError as e: # unless something goes wrong, of course
print (e.strerror)
if e.winerror != 183: # avoid error #183, which is almost always the directory already existing
input() # if it's something else, force the user to see it in the dos box
os.system("explorer "+foldername) # now open explorer, and enjoy 8)
I don't trust metadata to do this for me, it gets lost! I keep my ~400,000 source files (~700 Gb, mostly Jpegs) in nested folders.
I really want to move to Linux but lack of a few key applications makes it hard for me.
I got some books (with music or digital download.) Those were helpful, but YouTube song lessons are probably the most effective.
I play probably 30 minutes most days. I find it relaxing and entertaining-- occasionally even for others!
But, this year I started putting more effort into my YouTube channel and grew it from about 300 subscribers to over 700. I have a long way to go. It's niche (amateur radio homebrewing) and so small is fine. But learning how to make better videos and edit them has been interesting.
On that note, if anyone can recommend a video editor that isn't too hard to use, is free, and can work with a GT740 (you can stop laughing!) I'd be obliged. Win10's video editor stopped working reliably for whatever reason.
I like it as it combines multiple skills such physical strength, climbing specific ability, balance, problem solving endurance etc. It feels like there's always new things to develop. Indoor climbing has the advantage of being less weather and season dependent than outdoor sports. Bouldering has the nice property of not requiring someone to do it with and you don't need to book anything in advance or follow fixed schedules.
developing the hobby: It started when I was playing with dj software and saw patterns in how a lot of music is structured. It got thinking about making my own music.
I had to relearn all my elementary school music concepts and terms again from stratch once I decided I wanted to explore music creation.
I started with some Music theory and small Midi keyboard. https://www.lightnote.co was helpful starting out to understand a bit of how music worked. I watched youtube videos of people describing concepts, working on songs, showing techniques. I tried a few short online cohort type classes. Joined a dozen music production discord communities. I would share my progress my instagram to have fun with my journey. A lot of my early posts are hidden now.
It was important for me to create small incremental things I could enjoy and share with others.
There is such a deep selection of concepts to explore that I find it very fulfilling to keep deepening my newbie knowledge into the hobby.
Time/Effort: approximately 1-4 hours a day. I tried sitting down every day. Some days creative ideas would come rapidly and when they didn't I would work on techniques and technical skills.
It's been ~1 year but I'm humbled and grateful that I have learned and had fun learning to make sounds that I enjoy. I hope to explore my visual artistic expression with my music at some point. It's also helped me appreciate the beautiful layers and craft of music I hear today by giving me another perspective when I actively "listen" to music.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1AFDRfC8RJf0O527M8AY0G https://soundcloud.com/rlze (most of my music is on here) https://music.apple.com/sk/artist/rlze/1572273532
b) I installed a virtual model railroading program, where i can build stations and landscapes in a 3d-modelling/blender like fashion. Its a quite dull, somewhat artistic kind of activity.
It's also leading into my next project which is going to be bottle storage. Probably an unnecessarily geeky version of it involving digital monitoring and inventory.
It’s a way to be with others and not have to talk, and develop mentally and physically.
Now playing with arduino starter kit and a bunch of different sensors and also the amazing $29 oscilliscope I saw on another HN thread.
Also bought 3 plastic recorders (musical instruments) at Dollar Tree for myself and 2 granddaughters to play "$3 Orchestra" along with Youtube music videos.